For my slightly-overdue end of the year entry, I'm gonna look at the crimes I've committed throughout 2006, and the lessons that I've learnt, have yet to learn, or will probably never learn:

Perming the hair won't heal the emotional scars.

Instead, it will kill the hair cuticles and attract all the wrong sorts of male attention instead. (- -") Nevertheless, major hair revamping still hold its comfort values - but anything apart from perms la.

Speaking of which, another painful vanity lesson learnt is that short fringes have higher tendency to make one look like a sohai rather than chic. Or look like a Bai Ling. =.= It can only work on exotic Asian runway models; and wide faced, big-nosed types must never, never attempt the straight across fringe.

Relationships make and break you all at once.

Because at some point, some day, something is bound to mess up - especially if you're of the same disposition as me, where relationships do not last more than a year, and all the men are of the egoistic, hard-headed type. Wrong type of men, wrong type of commitment, wrong type of everything; because my choices in men are just fcked up, and will probably continue to be fcked up.

What have I learnt from this? I don't quite know yet. But what I do know is that for now, I might as well just channel my efforts into something I have more control over - i.e. my studies, my career moves, and my relationships (of the platonic kind) with other people.

That, and pushing away thoughts of dying as a lonely spinster to the far corner of my mind. =.=

There are some really fcked up people in this world (i.e. KDU).

And having to work with such a difficult bunch was a pain in the ass, to say the least. And I've learnt that diplomatic efforts do not solve everything, because in some extreme cases, the enemies really don't give a shit about your attempt to be nice to them, and will still try to run you over with a truck.

But it also proved the long-standing belief that teamwork can save you from the deepest depths of hell - because despite everything, it's comforting to know that you have a group of people who truly understand cos you are stuck in the same boat.

And group-bitching is one of the most satisfying and stress-relieving activity during those torrid times.

However, on the opposite end of the spectrum, there are also some people whom I think are the greatest beings ever.

And no, that's not referring to the hot men I lust after - although, they are great in their own ways too. *sporfles* >.<

I'm talking about people who can see me through all my worst ways, and can still be find it in them to be friends with me. And how much my life revolves around interaction with others.

I'm aware that it takes a LOT to put up with me sometimes - although lemme first state that I have never intended to be a pain to anybody; it's just that I just get caught up with my own feelings and forget about others' at times. =/ And at my lowest days, I can be so emotionally-dependant on others that it can get tiresome on their parts.

But yeah, to be able to sit through all my incessant whinings and bitchings, transportation requests, countless food conquests, cranky mornings, emo nights, alco-induced antics and everything else bad which I've yet to be aware of... and still stuck around for all the good and bad times - you all know who you are, and I love you. :) I promise to be a better friend in 2007 and the subsequent years to come!

Dewars + Black Label + Midori = FATAL COMBINATION

I could still taste the sickeningly sweet Midori and the pungent whiskey at the back of my throat. I'm a late bloomer in this, but congratulations me for finally knowing what it is to be truly wasted. = = And once is enough, thank you.

....

It's hard to predict what's installed for 2007... but on my part at least, I resolve to:

Work harder

Procrastinate less (which is probably the least feasible resolution of them all. =.= )

Eat healthier

Sleep better

Be a nicer person

Be more persistent and motivated in working towards my goals, both short and long termed ones.

Live it to the fullest in Aussie.

There you go, my New Year's Resolutions - nothing too impossible like snagging a beautiful man or shedding my face fats, so shouldn't be that hard to follow. ^^

Best wishes to all of you too, in anything and everything that comes your way. *hugs all around* May you guys have a blast of a year ahead, and please continue to support Gripe Box, thankiewverymuch. :D

" Shinichi Chiaki (Tamaki Hiroshi) is the top piano student at his university
and an excellent violinist, but Chiaki doesn't care about playing these
instruments as much as he dreams of someday being a conductor. Chiaki,
however, has several deeply rooted fears about traveling, and so finds
himself "trapped" in Japan. Because he's trapped, Chiaki starts to
question exactly how far he can possibly go in music, especially when
he's passed over again and again for others he thinks are less worthy
of musical scholarship and fame.

This is when he meets Nodame, or Megumi Noda (Ueno Juri).
Nodame is a free — if filthy — spirit who reminds Chiaki that music can
be fun. She reminds him what drew him to be a conductor in the first
place and, in learning how to deal with Nodame, Chiaki learns how to
deal with others. Chiaki begins to realize what is possible for him,
even within the country of Japan. "

I've raved and gushed and propagated this drama to just about anyone at all who would pay attention, and even more so for those whom I think has the slightest bit of interest in j-dorama and/or shoujo manga.

And so far the only person I've convinced is my sister. =.=

WHAT'S THERE TO NOT LIKE ABOUT IT??

The plot is good, the music is good (albeit classical - but you may be surprised how they made classical music appealing even to people like me), jokes are hilariously Super-Deformed-inspired (which is good), and oh my god the beautiful people that star in it. The beautiful man that stars in it.

:: Tamaki/Chiaki-san, dai suki da.... T______T ::

(and 3 more, because I couldn't decide which one to put up, eheh.)

:: From a Jap variety TV program, Bistro SMAP! (where I discovered that, contrary to the role he plays in Nodame, Tamaki-san is in fact a perpetually smiling person). ::

*** Click here for the plot summary, here for the official website, and here for the weekly review (warning: spoilers).

And just in time; since I'm looking for new stuff to listen to. My current playlist comprises of Beethoven's Symphony No.1 in A Major (1st and 4th movement), Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, Mozart's Piano Sonata in D+ and Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No.2 in C- (1st movement). ^^V

But yeah as I was saying , the only other person who shares my enthusiasm for the show is the 7 year old kid, who is equally if not more excited than me whenever a new episode is downloaded.

Nevermind the fact that she doesn't understand some of the words in the subtitles, and I have to explain it to her; and that she laughs at her own interpretations of the jokes - but even then, we sit through each episode gushing over how handsome the guy is, how touching that particular scene is, and then sobbing during those sad touching scenes.

Sigh, what a way to end the year. >.< Live action shoujo manga at its best, and even the ending is satisfying - unlike TVB dramas these days which tend to end the plot within the first 10 minutes of the last episode, and then insert corny, unnecessary scenes for the next 40 minutes. =.=

That, or everyone dies in the end.

Instead, Nodame ends on a very fulfiling high note; leaving you (or me, at least - and everyone else who stalks the forums) going AAAAAAAACKKK, NO CANNOT END YET! - prompting talks of possibly a second season to it. ^^ And considering that the drama only covered 9 out of 16 volumes of the manga, there's still hope! (/^ ^)/

....

For the time being though, we'll have to be contented with the anime release, which is expected to be anytime within the next couple of months if I'm not wrong. But hmmmmm..... after seeing Tamaki Hiroshi living and breathing the role of Chiaki-senpai, I don't know if I can be contented at all with an animated version of him.

Date: 16th and 17th December (but tis only photos from the 17th)Venue: Sekolah Sri Sedaya

1) The turnout was overwhelming.

Coming from the early days of cramped walkways in Sungei Wang and a very, very ultra niche fanbase.

:: The queue that hit me when I arrived ::

:: The crowd that hit me when I stepped in ::

2) Artists displaying and selling their artworks.

:: It's not obvious in this picture, but the guy was wearing cat ears ::

:: It's just this strange otaku fetish for cat-humans, which I can never understand. Some even find it erotic. -.- ::

3) Merchandises and merchandise-suckers.

:: Domo-kun and otto-san head gears - going for RM50 each. T.T ::

:: Hot bishie postcards that Jill-chan got suckered into buying ::

:: Together with her cow earrings (she tried to con me into buying pig earrings) ::

:: And her so-cute-can-die fridge magnets. ::

4) And of course, what's an anime convention without its inaugural cosplay competition?

You know you're really too old for the scene when you stop recognizing any of the characters that these people are dressing up as; and instead, is quite contented just seeing the weird and colourful fabrics pieced together.

And of course, the fact that everyone was at least 3 years younger. =.=

:: The goth-lolita girls getting ready for the event ::

:: The one in blue is a man. ::

:: One of the crowd favourites. For obvious reasons that he looked so cool wielding his big-ass sword around. ::

:: And as always, there has to be a Kakashi-sensei - although I've yet to come across any cosplayer who is even one-tenth close to the hemsomness and charisma of the character. ::

:: Ironically, the one character that I recognized instantly had the least elaborated costume/props. Our L just had to crouch on a chair, constantly suck on a lolly, and look spaced-out. ::

There were a couple of Ls walking around, but that one by far was the closest to the real thing (on Death Note, my non-anime subjects). Others were either of the wrong size or the wrong gender. =.=

:: No Ryuuk spotted (although that would have been awesome), but got Grim Reaper(s) la. ::

But more scary than Death itself, there was also....

:: A MALE FRENCH MAID! O.O ::

... which pretty much scarred me for life. +__+

:: Goth chicks from earlier ::

:: Colour-coded black and white. ::

And then there's my favourite cosplayer of the lot:

Huwaaaahh, he's sho cute! >_________<

He's like the epitome of the CUBs (Cute-Underaged-Bois) that I'm constantly accused of chasing after. Not that it's entirely true, of course. Hardly ever, for that matter.

But aahh coupled with the shinigami outfit sommore... *cries*

.....

But paedo-tendencies aside, the real reasons I was there at the event were, apart from seeing The Infamous Ouran Bois (though apparently I was there on the wrong day T.T), to meet up with June-chan and the RADE/Strawberry Jam guys - both of which I haven't seen in ages.

:: Nekozawa-senpai from another batch of Ouran cosplayers ::

Who un-hooded to reveal....

:: JUNE-CHAN! (/^ ^)/ Irrashai irrashai~ ::

After a while though, we started feeling really bored and tired - generally from the excessive energy that these people seem to put into their singing/dancing/laughing/incessant-fangirl-screamings - so we found a quiet and dusty corner where we camped out for the next hour we were there, refusing to budge at all.

And sending Kev to go scout for Ouran bois for us instead. :D

So after meeting up with June, went to meet up with Ian and the entire gang who were there to support Siew, whose company set up booth selling artworks. Man, it's been so long since I last saw any of them... apart from the occassional Friendster stalking, of course. ^^

But seeing them with clean shaven looks and short hairs ("Going for the boyband look") was........ well, definitely different from seeing photos of them with clean shaven looks and short hairs. =.= They all looked so bright and gleaming now. >.< Chit especially, whom I'm so used to seeing with a lot, a lot of hair.

Ahhh well... that's what growing up and age do to you I supposed. Even the most hardcore rocker starts listening to slow jazzy songs (and Justin Timberlake when he thinks no one is looking); and then there's us, feeling burnt out after a mere few hours of colourful cosplayers.

We spent the entire journey home pondering thoughts about life and old age.

Borrowing a line from Tan Jin-Fei - Sky Bar is a nothing to shout about.

:: Can see KL tower, so what! >.< No la actually the view was pretty nice. As it would have been expected to be, coming from the 33rd floor of Traders Hotel ::

It was a collective response from most of us that Luna Bar beats Sky anytime, and for the following reasons:

Luna is not as humid, cos Sky was more enclosed.

Luna's music more chill out, while Sky's music was abit too loud. And for some strange reason, the management felt the need to play the music really loudly in the washroom. So loud that you have to scream to the person inside the cubicle and not be able to hear yourself or her.

And speaking of washroom, there was only one functioning cubicle in the ladies'. One out of two toilet cubicles, while the rest of them were shower rooms. What.The.Hell? Obviously more people will be peeing rather than taking showers right!

Sky's layout was a bit weird, cos the pool is massive and the low seats are really close to the edges of the pool.

And because of that, Smuggy nearly tripped a little girl into the water. =.=

And so did Kevin Chan - but I think it's cos he's so panjang.

....

Anyway, the night was supposed to be this massive meeting up session organized by Jo, now that everyone is back for the hols, and she invited her usual gang of friends, who brought their own gang of friends, and then there was the Dennis Chan gang......

And then there was me, with no gang of friends. -.-

But everyone was being nice la, and I think we've all seen each other enough over the years to recognize each other and know each other's names, and perhaps have even heard a story or two about one another. And coupled with all the booze that was going around (and cigars wtf. Joshua Tan with cigars wtf), ice-breaking was kao tim on its own.

:: Who ever said that alcohol was bad for you? :D ::

Oh, ambil kesempatan to congratulate Smuggy for officially becoming a MAS co-pilot! (/^ ^)/ I know it came a bit too late, but then again we haven't spoken for a while so better late than never, CORRECT?

And because Smuggy stopped blogging for reasons unbeknowst to everyone, I'll announce on his behalf that apart from local destinations, he had also flown to Jakarta, Hanoi and Ho Chin Minh.

"Ho Chin Minh is..... where ar? Wait, er..."

"Hehe." Smuggy grinned smugly.

"... it's in... VIETNAM!"

"YES!"

"EH, or was it... correct ar? Sorry my geography tak pass. =.= "

"Ya ya, my geography also tak pass one."

Wtf la Smuggy, pilot can not pass geography one? =.=

:: Zhuo Yan, Kevin Chan, Smuggy ::

:: Chris and half a Soon Han ::

:: Jo and me ::

:: Su Chien is grabbing Jo's boobie? O.o ::

:: Me, Jo, Abby, Smuggy ::

:: Vern and me ::

:: Me and Abby at the after party, ahah. That's supper at mamak for you la ::

-xx-

Rock the World 7 @ Stadium Merdeka, KL.

Last year, I was there with the Beat TV crew doing a coverage of the event. So in my glory days of being a production asst. intern, I had the exclusive media pass which allowed me to walk straaaight into the backstage zone, bypassing the scary crowd, and basically spending the rest of the evening watching from the first class stand.

This year, bad enough that I had to be demoted from MEDIA to having to pay to enter - I also had to be subjected 3 whole hours of walking/standing around in constant fear (we left after the first half), courtesy of, well, the scary crowd.

Scary crowd = ALL THE REMPIT MAT ROCKS FROM THE WHOLE BLOODY COUNTRY.

T_______________T

And these people gawked at us as though they have never seen Chinese girls their entire lives. Of course, it didn't help that our demographic (both genders totalled up) made up for less than 0.5% of the entire stadium, BUT STILL! JUST COS WE'RE CHINESE MEANS WE CANNOT LIKE THE MSIAN ROCK INDUSTRY IS IT?

I bumped into Foo Seng and Chit Wei in the crowd - and FS was telling me that even they were quite hesitant to enter the stadium initially, in fear that they would get beaten up or something. =.=

So yah. And no thanks to the last minute change of line-ups and inaccurate schedules, we ended up missing out on half of the performers that we were there to see; namely Tempered Mental, Reza Salleh, Gerhana Ska Cinta, and Lo.

And because we fled the place halfway through, we also missed out on Stonebay, Curtis Blues Review, One Buck Short, and OAG.

So what's left you tell me??

Some new-age fusion artist in denim cut-offs and a band fronted by AaronGoTakeOne's Javanese twin brother. T.T

:: It's not even denim bermudas (which, is bad enough on its own), but something that looked like bicycle shorts which had lost its stretching glory ::

Haih.

But despite everything, there were a couple of consolations here and there. The few silver linings in our fckin hurricane-inducing clouds.

1) Estranged's performance.

a) Because they were bloody mindblowingly kickass awesome.

b) Because I am a bit of an Azwin Andy fangirl, nvm if he's really a himbo.

c) Because I caught at leastONE of the performances I had wanted to see.

:: The closest thing to Incubus and Boyd-love that can you get in Msia ::

:: Actually this one isn't nice nor funny in any way, but we were quite fascinated over the fact that there we were getting stressed out from all the harassment, and you have this girl who looked like she stepped out from some S&M catalogue and she was walking around all by herself, unperturbed. ::

But speaking of strange, in a not-nice, scary way, there was this one rempit in particular (tight-fitting bleached jeans, Doc Martens, bleached denim jackets) who stood out among the rest scared the shit outta us with his incessant shoutings and lagak macho, strutting around with his cohorts as though he owns the place.

We suspected that he must have drank or smoked something, in order to behave like such a shithead. Every time he walked pass us, we would run away, in fear that he would suddenly come up to us and shout into our faces, or something. =.= I think I'll be traumatized for life if that had happened.

On the way out though, we bumped into them again, and we saw his group of friends struggling to drag him somewhere. I quickly looked away to avoid any form of eye contact (you can never be too careful), but Jen said that the fella had this stoned expression and was drooling all over his face.

HE OD-ed ON DRUGS, WTF!

Tak boleh la, tak boleh. This is the last time ever I'm attending a Rock the World. Heck, the last time I'm attending any rock festivals in Malaysia that isn't priced at anything more than RM100. T______________T

And I'm not being stereotypical. I just don't see any reasons to go easy on a bunch of people who behaved like they own the entire genre and can therefore act like bloody hooligans who do not know the first thing about respecting other people, let alone, women.

:: We are traumatized, indeed we are - that's why I'm nibbling on my knuckles and Jen's chewing on her nails ::

It's located just by the straits that divides Hong Kong island from the mainland. And the very same spot where TVB actors and actresses had, over the years, thrown many beer cans and yelled out their frustrations into the open sea.

It happens in at least 1 out of 3 TVB dramas.

As the name goes, the Avenue of Stars is supposed to be HK's version of Hollywood's Walk of Fame, apart from being a cultural and arts centre and a favourite jogging spot among the locals (as I'd observed).

But none of the names that were printed on The Walk were familiar to me at all. Given though, they're probably the relics legends of Hong Kong film industry, but I plead ignorance in this department so....

We just stood around and posed with every interesting monument in the area.

:: Oh what awaits us across in the great metropolitan city of Hong Kong? ::

Many, many things, I assure you.

:: Skyscraping glory ::

That's one of my favourite shots from the entire trip - because, apart from the superb angling which only happens once in every 500 shots I take, it projects exactly how I see big cities to be.

Grand, majestic, towering, full of opportunities. And so bloody glamour. ><

He's superficially perfect in every sense - tall, built, extremely handsome, talented (he was a Principal Percussionist for 2 separate concerts in New York - one in Carnegie Hall and the other in Lincoln Centre), loves his rock music, single, and most probably straight.

And imagine having bumped into him in the busy streets of HK, where there were hundreds or thousands of people criss-crossing from all directions.

And there I was, and there he was - all 6'3" of him. T_________T

But I was so unbelievably speechless I wanted to die. (- -") It took a mother to run after him and "EXCUSE ME ARE YOU DOMINIC?", put him in front of me, all smiles and (genuine) friendliness....

And the only thing that slipped passed my mouth was:

"Oh and I was just having these mental images before I arrived of 'ooo how nice it would be if I could meet Dominic in HK', ehehehehe"

.......................

It could have been worse, I know. But still, bad enough can. T.T

Moving on to other parts of the city:

:: The 'happening' street that is as much of a Must-See in HK as Disneyland is ::

But being with two disapproving-of-daughter-consuming-alcohol parents and a seriously underaged sibling, it would have defeated all purposes of visiting the place in its full nightlife glory. Since really, there's nothing much here apart from booze and, scouting out men maybe.

Which explains why we were there during the day. If only to prove that "we were there, and therefore we are happening ha ha". = =

:: A horseshoe, U-shaped lane filled with bars, bars and more bars ::

Oraits. Another time, another time.

....

From there, we moved on to take the tram up to Victoria Peak, which houses Madam Tussaud's Wax Museum, as well as possibly the best view of the Hong Kong skyline.

:: Awaiting the tram ::

And look who else I bumped into:

The irony of bumping into 2 KL-based faces in HK. But of course, this was nothing after that spectacular destined meeting with Dom. >___< And she wasn't exactly the friendliest person around either - has got that distant, saje-layan sorta air about her.

But! I do think she's really pretty though. =/

:: HK in the day ::

Layan wax celebrities better.

:: Like, one of her all-time favourite HK stars. Wonders of what an endorsement deal with Disney channel can do for your popularity. = = ::

:: We even got a 10% discount ^^ ::

:: Mr Bond, your body not as hot as the new Mr Bond, but you remain my #1 favourite forever and ever, babe ::

:: Datuk Michelle Yeoh with such intricate details ::

:: Yeah we'll just look at each other while the piano emits automated music ::

:: Wax did not do Hugh much justice. But I like my hair in this pic though ::

:: Didn't do Ayu much justice either, apparently. =.= ::

:: Maybe they're biased, and concentrated more on the HK stars ::

:: Former US presidents - Clinton and Churchill ::

:: Sis with Madam Tussaud. Although she had no idea who she was taking photo with until much later. ::

But it was quite small though, the wax museum. I was quite disappointed to not see Tony Leung (Chiu Wai), Chow Yun Fatt, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Louis Koo and Zhang Zi Yi on display; granted that they are pretty major players in the HK entertainment industry.

Ah well. Here be contented with a final shot of the beautifully-lit HK skyline in the night time.

:: Oh the joys of tripods - no matter how small they are >.< ::

-xx-

DAY 4: Contemporary arts and The Last Dinner in HK

After two rather eventful days, it was time for us to wind down abit and visit the art museum which refused to let me in the day before because.... well, because they are closed on Thursdays.

It was a choice between the feature exhibition [Artists and their Models - from Paris] or the 'normal' exhibition - which had a major price difference between the two, so we settled for the latter. It didn't really matter that much to me ler, cos I just wanted to have a look inside the Hong Kong Museum of Art. ^^

We started off at the caligraphy artworks section, which housed ink paintings of horses after horses and tigers and villages - some dating back to the 18th century.

All very meticulously done, and to point-blank precision, these paintings.

But dunno how to appreciate la, sorry. = =

:: Contemporary art, yes ::

Basically, everything you're about to see is made out of human hair (apart from the obviously-wooden chairs), carefully weaved and shaped into all sorts of designs.

:: So much hair - EVERYWHEEERE (/>____<)/ ::

And they even this interactive kids section which encourages children to explore their creative and artistic side. Something which I would have clearly failed in, then or now, so I stick to taking photos of the creative and artistic process. ^^

:: A camwhoring masterpiece on its own HOHO ::

:: My sis in deep concentration of her artistic associations with a feather ::

The final piece:

:: Ah, random photo ya. ::

-xx-

Later in the evening, we met up with my Aunt again for, what was supposed to be, The Best Siew Ngor in Town.

But unfortunately, my memory is failing me again once more, so I can't distinctively recall what was the name of the place. All I know is that it's opposite the train station, at..... one of the stops in the KCR line. I will look it up.

So we all squeezed into her MPV and headed off to search for the elusive siew ngor restaurant. Elusive, in the sense, that my aunt has quite gagal road directions as well, as I had come to discover. (- -")

So hence explains it - all the female Tan's are just hopeless in their sense of direction.

:: The infamous siew ngor (roast goose) ::

:: Smoked pigeon is love-times-20 ::

:: Fish intestines omelette. Urm, kay. ::

:: Pig's neck muscle char siew. Which, I can assure you, tastes waaay better than it sounds. In fact, because the meat is lean and tender, the texture beats regular char siew hands down ::

That was, by far, one of the best meals I had throughout the whole trip. Satisfying finale, I am happee. (/^ ^)/

-xx-

DAY 5: Homebound

:: Delayed flight. We were immensely bored. ::

Felt good to be home, despite the horribly hot and humid weather that greeted us when we arrived. = =

Overall, I would say that the trip went pretty well. Tiring, from all the non-stop walking, and expensive in all forms of expenditure. =/

:: Not enough shopping!! /cries ::

But as always, after returning from visiting another Asian country (apart from SG), I'm happy to be back to land where people generally speaks English and BM - my forte. Feels uncomfortable not being able to communicate properly for even the most basic things, like ordering lunch.

I'm sure that explains how they can get away with glitches that could have resulted in us landing up in Jakarta instead of HK.

:: KLIA. System banyak tak boleh ::

We queued up at the huge C26-fronted line for a whole 10 minutes or so before approaching closer and realising that we should instead be at the Big C27 side - which in actual fact, is C26 in much smaller print.

(- -") Even in words it doesn't quite make sense.

:: Arriving safe and sound in Hong Kong Int'l Airport ::

We then took a cab from airport to our hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui - which, alone, bombed us by about HKD300. +__+

:: Kimberly Hotel - located on Kimberly Street (doh) ::

We checked into our rooms, quickly dumped our stuff, and set off to hunt for our first, authentic HK meal for the day. Could smell all the roasted meats in our minds already.

:: Dad, prior to the 5 pounds he gained by the end of the trip ::

Our first stop was the first noodle shop that we saw - like about 5 meters away from our hotel, not unexpectedly. Didn't bother us if it was well known or not, as long as they had browned poultry hanging by the window.

And, as for the rest of the trip, anything that involvesd interaction with another person out of the family will be left to my dad - and at worst, my mum will try to salvage the situation with her 'zhao im' (out of tune) cantonese.

Me, I just smile and nod and look as blur as I possibly could.

:: Fishball meehoon. Meehoon was unlike the usual Msian type cos it was thicker - but tasted nice though. Compliments to the soup, which was probably boiled with pig parts or something. ::

:: My char siew kolo mee. First bite of the tenderly smoked pork and sweet sauce nearly killed me (in a good way of course) ::

Hong Kong is all about the hustle and bustle of the big city - everywhere you go, you see people on the phone, people on the run, people on the phone who are on the run.... So much life everywhere you turn, yet it's all abit too much for my liking, really.

It's too congested. And the air chokes me.

It's slightly better over at HK island though, with all the skyscrapers and designer label-adorned people on the run - but Kowloon somehow seemed too crowded for such a small place... and just lacked the 'feel' of a truly metropolitan city to make it likeable.

....

Anyhoo we spent the rest of the evening exploring the streets around our hotel - and happy to have found one mango pudding chain (as publicized on KennySia) within minutes away from our place; and plenty of phunky retail outlets.

There was even a LAMB store nearby!

:: Cute girl selling even cuter mini doughnuts ::

There were also 2 cute guys who made their appearances much later on. And one of them spoke excellent English >______< as opposed to cute chick here - but I reckon her cina-english completes the whole cute image, no?

-xx-

Later at night, we met up with my Aunt and her family for dinner - and they brought us to this place by the sea(river?)side which served nothin but live seafood.

HEAVEN! (/^ ^)/

Super well-known place in Sai Kung for anything and everything seafood - served and sold. In fact, a lot of celebs are known to frequent here as well.

:: Right place at the wrong time. T.T Daniel, we will meet someday. ::

:: This particular sea food freaks me out beyond words. The bigger they are, the more they scare me. And these HK-bound ones are FCKIN GARGANTUAN ::

Dad wanted to order them sashimi-ed. If only to his amusement of watching his daughter's face squirm and turn white.

While waiting for our food to arrive, Aunt played tourguide and whisked me away to the docks and explained to me that this place is often used to shoot 'smuggling scenes' in dramas and movies.

But in actual fact however, it's a quite fancy port where rich men park their private yacht and boats.

:: Boats used to smuggle them drugs and illegal immigrants. But really, they just sell seafood off them ::

:: Downed with smooth imported lager that tasted better than any beer I've had in the past. Do they carry this brand here? ::

:: Uncle HK, Aunt HK and Cousin HK (who's this brat with a permanently-attached PSP and every potential to grow up to be good looking. In a HK-zhai sorta way. ) ::

-xx-

DAY 2: Disneyland e ikimashita

Day started off very early with Dad barging in to greet a sleeping daughter at 8.30am:

"EH, WHY ARE YOU STILL ASLEEP? WAKE UP LOR, WANNA GO EAT BREAKFAST"

=.=

Don't be fooled by the name of the restaurant. This place is actually famous for their kick-ass char siew pau - and an array of faint-worthy dim sums.

:: Was already 10.00am by the time I crawled out of bed, showered, washed my hair, put on my makeup and walked to the restaurant. Dad was breaking out in cold sweat from immense hunger. ::

But we were careful not to over-stuffed ourselves so that we have space for lunch later. :D

:: Chee cheong fun on the left, and some deep-fried prawn roll. ::

The chee cheong fun was quite a disappointment cos the skin wasn't soft enough... and the fact that HKies don't believe in sambal T.T which is like the epitome of good chee cheong fun, sigh.

But the deep-fried thing was bloody bloody awesome. Skin was crisp, and the prawn fillings were marinated kao kao but yet had the sweetness of the prawns preserved. It was another bite-and-die-on-the-spot moment.

Contrary to earlier impressions, the HK service industry has indeed improved by tenfolds compared to the last time I was there. I recalled the first time I came to HK with my family - was more than 10 years ago - it was so bad that even my usual gagal memory can remember every detail of these con artists.

First thing when we arrived, we had a cabbie who dropped us off at some random shopping centre and told us that we have arrived at our hotel. Simply because she refused to go through the heavy traffic. (- -")

And then our designated driver to Macau ditched us and disappeared without a trace after dropping us off - and we had to find some other means of returning to HK after that. Thankfully Uncle HK (whom then was still dating my Aunt) was with us; but you see, even a fellow HKie was ripped off.

This time around, however, almost everywhere we went, we were greeted by genuine hellos and thank yous - and they patiently waited and helped out each time we had to stumble through our cantonese to order or purchase anything.

</digression>

And we were off to the Happiest Place on Earth.

Land of Mickey and Donald speakin in Cantonese.

I can't wait.

:: A special line from Sunny Bay that takes you to straight to Disneyland ::

:: Even the windows are mickey-fied! T.T ::

:: And the bar handles! ::

Admittedly, we're all pampered kids who had scaled greater heights in Disneylands at other parts of the world, so this wasn't the big highlight of our trip. Except for my sis maybe.

But the lack of crowd (a non-school-holiday weekday), the absence of 2-hour queues (like those in Tokyo), and the just-nice weather made up for what's lacking in size and grandeur of this HK version. ^^V

To be honest I had more fun taking photos than taking rides, really. I took so many photos that I completely exhausted my camera battery before the day was over. T.T

We queued up for Donald and Daisy too, but halfway through they waved goodbye and just... left.

:: The chipmunks will have to do ::

We even camwhored in the souvenier shop.

:: Cute magician and the even cuter mini wizard ::

:: And another ::

And ok lah, time to start hitting the rides. Didn't pay 150 dollars per person to just take photos. = =

Surprisingly, the whole family went along (usually it's just me and Dad), given that Mum and Sis aren't exactly very rollercoaster-friendly.

And the whole time, amidst all my hysterical screaming, I'll constantly turn over yelling "BABY, ARE YOU OK?" - cos she was sitting beside me,as quiet as a mouse, and I was so scared that she fainted or flew off or something. =_____=

The 7 year old just sat through the whole thing in silence while the 21 year old lost her voice at the end of the ride.

But it was damn lotsa fun though. The only ride that had a height limit in the entire theme park after all. Ah well.

:: Well I'll be damned too if I had to put on a flower suit every morning and parade around in public ::

:: Ariel, very very frightening me ::

:: The superstars ::

:: But she really couldn't be bothered, with those popcorns in hand -.- ::

:: Welcome to Fantasyland (/^ ^)/ ::

:: The little one having fun aboard the Sleeping Beauty/Cinderella Magic carousel ::

:: Sharing the sentiments are the remaining 85% of the >50-yr-old demographics ::

Come to think of it, the whole theme park was filled with senior citizens. Old people at every turn of the corner. Why ar?

....

Once we were contented with the rides, we went on to do some souvenier shopping for both ourselves and the little friends back home who are expecting Disneyland merchandises. You know who you are.

:: Dad taking a fancy for the pink. Ahah. ::

:: Being the ones who forked out HKD100/RM50 for a fckin umbrella, it was only necessary to at least take one photo with it ::

:: And then there was the HKD80 Piglet ears that I bought ::

So it was only necessary to at least make use of them to steal a shot of random cute guy at the background. ^^

Photo was taken in the midst of queuing up to watch the Lion King play - which in return, was to kill time while waiting for the Grand Fireworks Finale.

By now the 'Battery-Weak' sign had already appeared on the camera screen, so I had to salvage whatever battery-power was left to capture the fireworks action. -__- Such a waste, I could have taken more photos/vids during the play, bah.

Before I bombard you guys with another photo-filled entry, here's an intermission written piece sans any illustrations.

I have officially graduated from KDU! (/^ ^)/And moving to (hopefully) greener pastures of Murdoch campus in Perth, OZ, where I can adopt a pet sheep and go fishing on the weekends.

I am leaving for HK this Tuesday for family vacation. Which explains more photos ahead to jam up your servers. ^^

Christmasmood is setting in already. I'm thinking of buying a tree this year (they have cheap plastic ones in IKEA, and super cheap and super pretty ornaments to match ><).

Dengue boy, pls recover soon.

Emo-Bassist boy, hope your mum recovers soon. :)

Discussion with Jill-chan last night has led me to believe that I'm doomed to be with cibai men for the rest of my life. I think it's time to consider abstinence and monkhood. T.T

Rock the World 6, anyone? 3 stages, 50 acts.

No requests for souveniers from HK - I'll just buy candied food stuff for everyone yo.

With XMas around the corner, I can sense the lingering of some unfavourable memories just waiting to jump out from nowhere. =.= As much as I'm looking forward to a warm and happee one this year, I'm trying just as hard to surpress them evil evil recollections. Recollections of how I tried to make it work, and how I wanted it so badly to work out well, but in the end failed to convince even myself that we were happy.

Jill: See that guy in the blue shirt? That's my jap boss. Hsin:!!! Jen, see that guy in the blue shirt?? That's Jill's hot jap boss! Jen: !!! Hsin: But he's married though. Jen: Dammit. Is that his wife? Hsin:... Jill, is that his wife? Jill: Yah. Hsin: Dammit.

We were scheduled to arrive in SG around 5.30p.m., which should give us ample time to get to our hostel - yes, hostel, because we are poor and struggling students - grabbed a quick shower, change and be off to the event at 8.00pm.

But we had a few foreign passengers abroad who had problems with their visa or entry permits or something.... and because of them, we were held back by more than an hour.

By the time we arrived at One Florence Close, our place, it was 7.30p.m. (- -")

:: Zouk KL can go die. Your big bro across the causeway would have legally let me in 3 years ago ::

:: Happy 8th Birthday, JUICE Singapore ::

:: Inside the mainroom - which wasn't all that different from KL if you don't consider the generally better looking crowd ::

:: Watches so pretty I wanted to grab and ruuuuuuuuuuun ::

:: Jill and colleague from JUICE Sg - Lydia ::

:: Free flow of Martell, coke, z-up and Carlsberg all night long ::

:: The Malaysians ::

:: The Singaporeans (by IC nia, they claimed) - Karen & Pin-Ji ::

:: That's emcee Fred Mercury ::

:: Cheers to finally meeting up with my blogger babe across the straits ^^ ::

:: Only the start of a loooong long long night out ::

:: Our politicians may hate each other but we have great love among ourselves ::

:: The Great Spy Experiment ::

The guys kicked start their performance with a rendition of The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" - which should have put the crowd into a massive rock-out mood, but it didn't. Guess Singaporeans aren't any better with this than Msians.

They went on to perform several of their self-penned songs (click here to visit their MySpace) - which were very impressive as well. Very Killers-like. I mean, considering how they managed to slowly initiate moshing at the front roW, that's definitely some class act on its own.

Of course, I can also say that we were part of the initiating factor of moshing, huhu!

:: Susan and Adrian ::

:: The passive, passive crowd ::

:: Apart from us, of course. ::

Two encores later, the event came to an end. So we bid the JUICE ppl goodbye and set off for our own little adventures

But first, the necessary bathroom-lightings-damn-good-so-must-take-photos-haha shots.

First off - Phuture @ Zouk

:: Walkway to Phuture - r&b room ::

:: Forgive the shitty quality of photos - I refuse to use flash so everything turned out black once I loaded em into my comp. T.T This was the best I could do to salvage the pictures ::

Phuture wasn't all that much fun... and, well, Zouk is Zouk is Zouk at the end of the day, so might as well try out bigger and better things when options are available, yes?

MOS LA, MOS.

For my jakun subjects whom, like me earlier, had no inkling of what MOS is apart from association with the rice burgers - MOS my dears is Ministry of Sound; i.e. the big tai lou of Singapore clubs.

:: Situated in Clarke Quay, which was just a couple of mins cab ride away from Zouk ::

And since the whole place was so brightly and colourful lit, we had to take a moment to snap a bazillion shots of each other and everything around us.

:: On the bridge across the river ::

For a Saturday night, it was only $20 per person for ladies, and we received 2 complementary drinks of our choice. And with that, I don't mean watered-down Vodka lime minus the Vodka or bluff-people mocktails that doesn't taste very different from Sprite+Ribena.

I'm sorry for sounding like a katak bawah tempurung but really, given my extremely calamatic clubbing experiences in the past, you cannot blame me.

:: We found a fascinating chandelier dangling at one of the entrances ::

Oh yeah. They have 5 different arenas within one club - and once you pay at the entrance, you have free access to all of them (except Tunnel and Sky Lounge which are reserved for members/VIPs). Click to read more and see pics from official webbie.

After going back and forth between those 3 rooms, we decided that we've had enough of MOS and decided to try Club MOMO - which had free cover from 12am onwards.

But chup, sit down for a while first. We needed a rest before this became our final partying for the rest of our lives.

:: Because the vainness didn't allow us to wear anything but heels. PJ was only lucky cos she had cool ballet pumps and we didn't. ::

:: Riverside. Eh eh, we should have a riverside happening area also. Right about when they decide to clean up Klang river, HAHAHAHAHAHA! Ok I'm sorry that was tasteless by all regards. ::

Somehow MOMO didn't work out cos we spent too long looking for it (compliments to our favourite singaporeans-by-IC)... and by then it was near 4.30 am, and the club closes at 5.00 am, so in order to cross the overhead bridge to get over to the other side, it would have been pointless.

-xx-

Next morning, I couldn't stand up at all. So I went back to sleep.

I woke up at 2.30pm to a darkened room and a missing wife.

Then missing wife sms-ed me from her aunt's place, but I couldn't reply because I ran out of credits.

So I spent the next 2 hours pacing back and forth between hostel --> public phone at coffee shop next door --> MRT station --> public phone at MRT station --> hostel - in a vain attempt to contact her but to no avail. Cos my phone, without credits, means that I cannot receive any forms of calls/smses.

T_______________T

I was hungry, alone, and hungry. I was half considering of setting out to the city to find lunch, but then that would mean the two of us exploring Singapore separately so that kinda defeats the purpose of us going on a trip laa.

But thankfully my final attempt to walk back to the hostel, I saw her standing outside our room. Stranded, cos I took the key along with me. (^ ^")

ORCHARD HERE WE COME!

:: Exhausted from last nite, but nevertheless adamant on making full use of our limited hours in SG ::

:: One of the many street performers we saw along the roads ::

:: Beneath this crotch we stand-eth - outside Ngee Ann City ::

:: And we met up with Jen's cousin, Joyce, at Paragon mall. Where I had my lunch which consisted of coffee and... takoyaki ::

:: XMas decos are being put up already. OH CAN'T WAIT FOR XMAS! after last year's disappointment ::

After dinner with Joyce, her hubby and her 2 kids, we were back to our place to crash out for a while.... and planning where to go for our 2nd nite out. It was quite an anti-climax after the previous night's outing so... we figured we needed some form of entertainment somehow.

But where to go on a Sunday night?

:: A quiet Sunday night in the MRT from Kovan ::

Go take plenty of photos around the city center of course!

:: An interesting sculpture on display at the foyer of Esplanade - everything was made out of chrome wires ::

Then we went up to the roof terrace:

:: The infamous 'durian' dome ::

Then on the way back to the MRT, we came across........

$4.00 for a single scoop - but supposedly a Hokkaido home-made ice-cream (agreeably, one of the best green tea ice-cream i've had T.T) so we allow ourselves to get conned.

Even the way they made it also interesting.

NO MEH?!

Finally satisfied, we made our way back to our happee little... shack. :D

Let me gush on about the place for a bit. So here are some reasons why this is like one of the best deals in town that you can ever have:

It is only $19.37 per person/per night for a private double or twin-sharing room. That's only RM45.

I know I should have learnt my lesson by now, that my attempts to photo-stalk strangers almost always have bad consequences.

But I figured, aiyah, what are the odds that this dood reads my blog, or know anyone who reads my blog. Takkan so coincidental right?

Anyway he looks much better in person - very Ben Affleck-ish. I took about 12 shots before finally securing that half-decent one. T___T

And throughout the whole journey, we were scheming on how Jen could accidentally fall back, slip under the armpits of his friend (this 7footer dude who stood in the way between us and him), and crash into the arms of this man.

So you see, I'm not the only one with the active imagination where men are concerned. ^^

A very very belated entry on my uncle's wedding ceremony last weekend.

And note that if you have sucky connection, this entry is going to be a bitch to load cos I have a little over a hundred photos. Hoho. Eh don't complain, I started off with 335 photos.

Anyway here's a photo entry so just keep up with the flow of the captions:

:: My princess, who went around 2 weeks ahead, telling all the shop assistants that she was going to be "a princess during the day and a flower girl at night! For my uncle's wedding!" Then all the shop assistants get suckered in and start feeding her sweets. ::

:: Wedding car. As of now, I want mine to be a cadillac with little tin cans strapped to its back bumper - so apart from honking, I can be clanking around town as well ^^ ::

:: The groom - all smiles and ready for the biggest day of his life ::

:: Grandma's so sweet when she smiles. But when not smiling she look damn fierce. Eh familiar hor. ::

:: The original Grandma's House unit, anticipating the arrival of a new member to the structure. But we love our new aunt/sis-in-law/daughter-in-law, so all is well ::

:: Getting impatient ::

:: I think this shot of mum and dad is pretty nice. They look so happy. :) ::

AND WE WERE OFF TO PICK UP THE BRIDE! (/^ ^)/

:: It was my first time in a... wedding car (ka?), so it was as much fun for me as it was for the groom. ^^ ::

Except of course, that I wasn't reeling in anxiety to pick up my new wife, but apart from that I think the joy was pretty much mutual within the car.

Even the AhMat had fun pressing the honk.

:: Waiting impatiently while the bride's family hunted desperately for a replacement car-opener boy because the appointed one started crying for no apparent reason. Shitty little brat. ::

And the replacement boy emerged.....

Uncle: .... this doesn't look like a virgin boy.

(- -") So much wickedness in this world.

.....

And thus began the LET'S LOCK THE GROOM OUT OF THE HOUSE, HAHAHA ritual.

:: The bridemaids + photographer Ah Cheong ::

:: Considerably though, these bridemaids were at their best of leniency - given that there were no bench-presses with bricks on your back, forcefeeding of deathly concoctions or anything to that extent. Which was probably why my uncle could still afford to have a smile plastered on his face ::

:: According to Chinese belief, the red umbrella blesses the bride with a long, healthy line of descendants. In other words, the Chinese wants my aunt to start making babies immediately - lots of em. ::

:: The royalty wave we were both practising 2 nights before ::

:: Goodbye little ones, I'm off to the land of well-dressed children and suitably-dressed adults ::

Meanwhile.

:: I like this photo cos everyone looked so unphotogenic in it. >< Will probably enlarge it and hang it up on my wall, hohoho. ::

:: And he's only 3 years older than her! ^^ Age gap just nice, ya ::

:: The sweet sweet tea she's waited for all her life ::

:: Dad harboring mental images of marrying her daughter off -_- ::

:: Cousin/Aunt Sue's mum, Aunty Teresa ::

:: Wayne, go hop on the bed and jump until you're out of breath ::

:: Also, an age-old tradition to bring child-bearing luck ::

Speaking of which, when we asked my uncle whether he wanted a son or a daughter, he chose the latter. It's something of his life-long ambition to create his army of women soldiers - given that he already have a head-start, with us 4 women under his care.

:: As for these two, we spent the rest of the day and night trying to matchmake them both together. ::

:: And the true colours started to reveal themselves. (- -") ::

:: But they make such a cute couple. > < ::

:: All the zi-muis, of whom one of them is the owner of that hot white shirt guy from the earlier wedding entries. Sigh. ::

:: Grandma and my grand-aunts ::

:: The new Grandma's House Unit + Dad ::

-xx-

Later in the evening, me and mum headed to Kimarie to get our hairs done. Because we were pressed for time and vain beyond words, we each forked out 50 bucks for professional hands to set our hair.

And all he did was stick a curling rod into my hair, and then hairsprayed everything.

m(_ _)m

:: But no doubt it turned out really nice la. See the curls that I never got to achieve with a perm! T___T But this was before it made contact with a few speckles of water and then suddenly it just died. +__+ ::

I was into a mad frenzy and near hysteria when I barged into my mum's room for SOS treatment. Luckily managed to revive the curls a bit, before my friends arrived.

:: The photo that has spurned the interests of a Singaporean boss and a Sarawakian ex-classmate. Eh Jill, must tell me if Guan Chiew says anything. ::

:: My beautiful babes - and that's us waiting with Grandma for my uncle's driver to fetch us to Sunway Ballroom. ::

:: SO CUTE CAN DIE T____________T. ::

:: The pretty things at the registration table. Not that it served us any benefits, considering the average demographic of the guests is 40 and above ::

:: Instead of shitty fruitcakes, we were each given these deathly chocolates instead. >.< Very tactful, well done ah Ku and ah Qim ::

:: Hsin's Friend 3, Hsin's Friend 2 and Hsin's Friend 1, HAHAHAH ::

:: And, but of course. ^^ ::

:: YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM SEEEENG !! ::

:: Family portrait of the camera-friendly Tan-s ::

:: Eh eh my super glamour shot ::

:: Relatives that I only hear about, but see once every 5 years or less. = = ::

:: Flower-bearing ladies of different generations ::

:: Inedible Wedding cake! ::

:: The chocolate-stealing monster strikes. Again ::

:: And we also have the flower robbers this time around ::

The plan was to grab the whole stand of flowers and walk out as calmly as possible. In fact, they wanted to take the ice-carving as well.

:: Said ice-carving ::

(- -") Haih, Hsin's Friends. *shakes head*

:: One so big one so small. Ah the epitome of contrast. >.< ::

:: Jill-chan, so smexy this shot! ::

:: We had a blast, the dinner was a blast, the jazz band was a blast (especially the killer emcee/vocalist/saxophonist whom I wanted to marry but found out later that he already has an air-stewardess wife T__T) - and congratulations to my wonderful uncle and aunt. :) ::

Here's a story of Hsin, a 21 year old self-proclaimed chiq whose sweat, blood and tears within 11 months of SAM in Taylor's College, Malaysia had finally paid off with remarkable results. *bows* (^ ^) After one whole unproductive biotech year in Monash University Malaysia, has finally moved on to greener pastures of the arts business - specifically, in mass communications. As of now, is proudly a Murdoch University BA in Media Studies student in KDU College.